Marden Henge (also known as Hatfield Earthworks) is the largest

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

henge There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ...

enclosure discovered to date in the United Kingdom. The monument is northeast of the village of

Marden, Wiltshire Marden is a small village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish southeast of Devizes in the county of Wiltshire, south west England. The parish is in the Vale of Pewsey which carries the upper section of the River Avon, Hampshire, Salisbur ...

, within the

Vale of Pewsey The Vale of Pewsey or Pewsey Vale is an area of Wiltshire, England to the east of Devizes and south of Marlborough, centred on the village of Pewsey. Geography The vale is an extent of lower lying ground separating the chalk downs of Salisbury ...

and between the

World Heritage Sites A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNES ...

of Avebury and Stonehenge.

Description

The enclosure is roughly oval in shape, and is enclosed by a typical bank and internal ditch arrangement constructed on the east, north and north-west sides and by the River Avon to the south and west. Its greatest width is 530 m and it encompasses an area of , and is under the care of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. Antiquarian accounts of the site describe a huge mound within the enclosure called Hatfield Barrow, which collapsed after excavation by

William Cunnington William Cunnington FSA (1754 – 31 December 1810) was an English antiquarian and archaeologist. Cunnington was a self-educated merchant, who developed an interest in the rich archaeological landscape around the Wiltshire village of Heytes ...

in the early 19th century. Today, Marden Henge has been damaged by

ploughing A plough or plow (Differences between American and British spellings, US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are draw ...

, and no longer has any standing stones. Around 1 kilometre to the south, archaeologists have detected the presence of another henge known as

Wilsford Henge Wilsford Henge is the site of a Neolithic British Isles, Neolithic henge, west of the village of Wilsford, Wiltshire in the United Kingdom (). The site was discovered from cropmarks in aerial photographs. The monument lies within the Vale of Pewsey ...

Archaeology

The area was designated as a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

in 1953. The site was excavated by Geoff Wainwright in 1969; he excavated the north entrance and found a timber circle, and

Grooved ware Grooved ware is the name given to a pottery style of the British Neolithic. Its manufacturers are sometimes known as the Grooved ware people. Unlike the later Beaker ware, Grooved culture was not an import from the continent but seems to have dev ...

pottery, similar to

Durrington Walls Durrington Walls is the site of a large Neolithic settlement and later henge enclosure located in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in England. It lies north-east of Stonehenge in the parish of Durrington, just north of Amesbury in Wiltshir ...

. The finds are at

Wiltshire Museum The Wiltshire Museum, formerly known as Wiltshire Heritage Museum and Devizes Museum, is a museum, archive and library and art gallery in Devizes, Wiltshire, England. The museum was established and is run by the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natu ...

Devizes Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century ...

, where there is also a small display. In 2010, the henge and surrounding area were investigated through aerial, geophysical, and field survey. During the dig, a

building was discovered, described as the best preserved Neolithic building in England. The site is included in a three-year investigation of the Pewsey Vale, beginning in 2015, by the Department of Archaeology at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

References

Notes Bibliography * * *

External links

Hatfield Earthworks (Marden Henge)
at

Marden Henge
at English Heritage Research
Hatfield Barrow – Cunnington's description of the excavations
at

Blog entry highlighting the Marden excavation finds
on the website of Wiltshire Museum 2nd-millennium BC architecture Buildings and structures in Wiltshire English Heritage sites in Wiltshire History of Wiltshire Ruins in Wiltshire Scheduled monuments in Wiltshire Stone Age sites in England Neolithic settlements Tourist attractions in Wiltshire Archaeological sites in Wiltshire Henges {{UK-archaeology-stub